Two Make a Brighter Light
by Squatta
Summary: They met through basketball, and everything changed after that.
1. Chapter 1

I can't stay away from these two. Although I have a few more stories planned for AoKaga, this is one I've wanted to do for a while. This is pretty much my canon headcanon(?). I plan for it to be a pretty slow build and, hopefully, pretty long. I wanted to do this when the manga was complete, but I decided I was too impatient for that.

Warnings:

- _**Manga spoilers!**_ If you watch the anime only, most of this fic will be spoilers! I have a feeling the second season won't go past the Yosen match and this manga will take place mostly after that starting as early as chapter 2.  
- Guy x guy  
- Mentions of KiKuro

* * *

The Generation of Miracles were what Kagami was expecting and more. He didn't have much confidence in the basketball that Japan had in store for him, but he ended up pleasantly proving himself wrong when he had encountered these monstrosities. When Seirin defeated Kise and the Kaijou team that was only the beginning of what the GoM had in store for him. Midorima and Shuutoku were even more challenging and victory seemed to barely be in their grasp. But when it came to Aomine… it was an entirely different story.

Upon meeting the ace of the Miracles, Kagami knew he was on a completely different level from what he had previously witnessed with Kise and Midorima. He was a bit shocked to see that Aomine knew of him too when they met on that court before the game. But letting down his defenses around his future rival was not an option. Still, Touou managed a crushing defeat over Seirin when it came to the Interhighs. Aomine's superiority complex and lone-wolf attitude irritated the hell out of Kagami, but he couldn't help but to admit that he was definitely a worthy opponent.

Touou's defeat changed Seirin; their entire training completely revised to prepare for the next tournament: the Winter Cup. All that was on Kagami's mind was that he had to defeat these Miracles, and if he couldn't get past Aomine then he might as well quit right then and there. When hearing that Touou was going to be their first opponent at the Winter Cup, a moment of shock was quickly replaced with a moment of adrenaline. It was an adrenaline rush of excitement, of eagerness, to go up against one of his greatest opponents again so soon.

With a promise of victory to his rival, the Winter Cup commenced and that's when Kagami discovered his true potential and Aomine's revival of a part once lost to him.

It was the last thirty seconds of the game and in a miraculous play Kagami stole the ball from Aomine, swiftly passing it to Izuki who then passed it to Hyuuga, dunking it into the net to create a one point difference. The audience roared in applause at the already intense game unfolding in front of them.

The Touou team looked on in shock, but not just because of the point scored against them, but because of the state of their ace. Ever since both he and Kagami had entered the zone there was a fire building up in him that that his team had never seen before. As Susa offered a hand to help Aomine up, the younger swatted him away, insisting it was nothing and stood up himself. That's when his team noticed the look on his face: the hunger to dominate this game had somehow been amplified from being bested by Kagami.

It took a mere fifteen more seconds for Aomine to return the favor, using his infamous formless shot to create the three point gap again. Aomine was convinced that he had finally stopped Seirin in their tracks. He wasn't going to let them win that easily.

But Kagami and the rest of Seirin still hadn't given up. Kagami went in for a dunk but Aomine was right there with him, blocking the shot with ease, confident that he had Kagami cornered. What Aomine didn't expect was for Kagaimi to pass the ball right then and there. In the blink of an eye, Kagami slammed the ball off to the side, Teppei catching it and making the shot. Wakamatsu attempted a block, but despite his efforts, Teppei managed to score the basket, creating the one point gap once again. Wakamatsu's block was deemed a foul, earning Seirin one free-throw.

Both teams knew Teppei was going to miss the basket on purpose. There was no way Seirin could afford putting themselves through overtime by tying the game. Aomine glanced over at Kagami, he couldn't help but acknowledge the assist he had just made. He had already acknowledged Kagami's power once during the game, but the guy just kept proving to him that he was more than he initially thought.

The atmosphere was tense and everything seemed to be in slow motion as Teppei made his shot. Both teams braced themselves for the rebound. It wasn't a surprise when Kagami shot up above the other Touou players, grabbing the ball in mid-air, ready to go in for another dunk.

Aomine hadn't let up this entire game, so there was no way he was going to stop now. He met Kagami in the air, slamming it away from his grasp and sending the ball across the court.

No one expected what happened next. Even the Touou team was late to react. Kuroko had beaten them to the ball; he already had the ball in his hands before any of them had even reached it. It wasn't that Kuroko didn't believe that Kagami would make the basket, rather that he believed in both his former and current light. He believed that Aomine would fight back, but he believed more in Kagami – that whether or not he made that initial basket, he would still go on to win the game.

Kuroko's ignite pass rocketed the ball across the court. Once again it was an all-out battle between Kagami and Aomine. Both jumped with everything they had; they couldn't help but shout as both reached out towards the ball.

Aomine tried with everything could. Every fibre in his body reached out to that ball, but still another hand beat him to it. In that moment, time slowed and Aomine couldn't help but recall a memory from his middle school days. Kuroko assuring him that he'd find someone – that one day Aomine would find a person that was worthy of being his opponent, someone that would make basketball worth playing again.

There was a sound of a blunt slam followed by an incredibly brief moment of silence before scoreboard buzzed. Aomine's feet touched the ground, his mind in a haze. The referee blew his whistle signaling the end of the game and the gym exploded with the sound of applause.

The members of Seirin cried and jumped in joy, even Kuroko had an immovable smile on his face. All of them gathered around Kagami, giving him congratulatory jabs and pats on the head.

On the other end, the members of Touou remained frozen and silent, tears forming in the eyes of a few of the members. Aomine still stood in his haze; he couldn't even keep his thoughts in his head and spoke them aloud. His eyes drifted towards the score board that displayed the final scores.

Seirin – 101  
Touou Academy – 100

"I… lost? I see… So I actually… lost." He wasn't sure what to feel. It was as if his emotions had broken in that moment as he just watched Seirin celebrate their victory.

The shout from the referee asking the teams to line-up barely shook him out of his haze. His eyes wandered over to Kuroko as he heard his former teammate's name called out by one of the other Seirin players. Kuroko could barely stand, his legs shook and his body collapsed as they could no longer support his weight. Aomine's reaction was late to what was happening in front of him and failed to react, but Kuroko was quickly grabbed by none other than Kagami.

Kagami asked if Kuroko was alright and lifted the smaller boy's arm over his shoulder. Aomine cast his eyes off to the side. With the state that Kuroko was in, it was hard to even tell who actually won the game, he mumbled said thought aloud.

"Why are you making that face as if it's the end of the world?"

Aomine's eyes shot back up as he heard a rough voice speak up in front of him. Kagami was looking at him, eyes unwavering as he continued to support Kuroko on his shoulder.

"This is just getting started. Let's play again. I'll take you down anytime."

Aomine's eyes widened a bit; he couldn't tear them away from the red-head's face. This man that had beaten him, this man that had actually given him the challenge he never thought he'd get, this man standing in front of him already talking about their next game against each other – he was the one Kuroko was talking about, Aomine was sure in that moment.

Kagami Taiga was the one – and Aomine felt a churning in his in stomach that shot up throughout his body.

But he shook that feeling quickly, slowly coming back to his senses, "Shut up, dumbass," he scoffed.

"Aomine-kun," another voice, all-too familiar, called out to him.

Aomine couldn't help but recall how he had taunted his former teammate during the game, claiming that his basketball wasn't going to win.

"It's your win, Tetsu," Aomine said in a steady voice. Kuroko had proven him wrong; his basketball really was good enough, and although Aomine was stubborn he could admit when he had been defeated.

"Can I ask for one thing…?" Kuroko spoke up again, this time raising a fist out towards Aomine. "You have yet to meet my fist from that time."

Aomine flustered up, wondering why something so silly was important to him. Kuroko insisted that he felt ignored and Aomine couldn't help but go along with his whims.

"I'm gonna win next time," Aomine said, finally meeting his fist with Kuroko's.

Kuroko smiled slightly and nodded.

* * *

Aomine opted not to join the rest of his teammates in the locker room after the game. He just couldn't be around other people at that moment. And although his sempai were probably feeling worse than he was as it was their last game, he couldn't help but feel that he needed some alone time. He found a relatively quiet place on some steps outside of the coliseum and sat down, lying back with his hands behind his head.

He let out a long sigh and looked up at the sky, letting the events of that day sink in. Images of the game flashed through his mind, most of them with Kagami glaring daggers into him.

Aomine had honestly felt that despite Kuroko's words, he really wouldn't find someone that would give him the challenge he wanted. He had given up almost completely once he got to high school. Playing had become boring and that made practice even more of a drag. He neglected to go because even if he didn't practice, his opponents were still barely a challenge.

He thought back on his game against Seirin during the Interhighs. Kagami had definitely piqued his interest then, but he ended up defeating his potential rival anyway. Although Aomine couldn't quite rule him out, because Kagami along with Kuroko definitely didn't give up during the entire game – Seirin as a team never gave up. But he could still beat them, and Aomine remained the same.

But this game had changed everything; Seirin was like an entirely new team. They must've done nothing but practice, but most of Aomine's attention was on Kagami. It was like his presence had increased tenfold – he could even go into the zone. Aomine hadn't felt that excited about playing a game in a long time, and Kuroko's words rang in his mind again and again.

"There you are!" A voice rang through the silence and Aomine was dragged out from his thoughts. "Don't go disappearing off like that! Come on, let's go back to the others," Momoi walked up to him in a huff.

Aomine remained silent for a moment, "Hey, Satsuki, are you free tomorrow?"

Momoi wondered aloud over Aomine's inquiry.

"Wanna go shopping together?" He continued.

Momoi jumped slightly in shock, stumbling over her words, "Sure… but why so suddenly?" It was extremely rare for Aomine to make a request like that.

"I want to get new basketball shoes," Momoi's widened slightly in surprise. "Ah… I wanna practice," the words left Aomine's lips without much of a thought.

That's right: he actually felt the urge to practice. He wanted to play again… how long had it been since he had this feeling? He couldn't help but find it… exciting. But he held that feeling in – he wasn't one to wear his emotions on his sleeve.

Momoi's face softened into a smile. Could this really be her friend finally returning to his old self? She had hoped for this day to come and prayed that her instincts were right. "Okay, let's go, Dai-chan!"

* * *

**End of Chapter.**

Pretty much a re-cap except with added inner thoughts and dialogue. I promise I won't do that too much heh. I only ask of everyone to be patient with this story. I'm in my last semester of university and have a large load of responsibility hanging over me. Not to mention I have a lot of academic writing to do. So don't expect these chapters to come out as fast as with my past stories. I'll try not to make it too long of a wait, though (if its been like, a month, you can start yelling at me rofl). I will promise that I won't suddenly drop this story because as I've said: it's one I've really wanted to do for a long time.

And its rated T for now. Yeah. Honestly I hate these rating systems because I often go into these stories not sure of how I should rate them. Just don't be surprised if it changes, but also don't be surprised if it doesn't change.

I might ask for any thoughts about this and other stories along the way and I tend to ask opinions on my twitter often (Squatta_Writes), so feel free to follow me on there. (:

Anyway, thank you for reading! I hope this story ends up being something I can be proud of! ^^b


	2. Chapter 2

Kagami couldn't believe he and half of his teammates passed out in the locker room right after the match was over, but he had never felt more drained in his life than he did in that moment. He was pretty sure he even dreamed about the match, but as one who never really remembered his dreams, he couldn't be too sure.

When the whole team had collectively decided that, for some reason, they were going to have dinner at Kagami's house, although he was somewhat irritated, he couldn't help but feel a little happy to have all of them over. Riko had somehow managed to make the hotpot they were planning to eat while the rest of them were distracted over Kagami's apartment. And the food was… surprisingly good. …Well, until everyone literally fainted from it about half an hour later.

But before that, Kagami had stepped out onto his veranda to take a breather from the hustle and bustle of his teammates. And of course, Kuroko was right behind him to surprise him once again with that minimal presence of his. Kagami didn't have time to grumble, though, as Kuroko got right to the point and told Kagami 'thank you'.

"I'm glad that I met you," Kuroko said with a rare smile on his face.

Kagami flustered at that. Kuroko was always straightforward but he would've never expected him to say something so embarrassing. But despite that, he was happy, because he was glad to have met Kuroko too, he was glad to have met all of his teammates. Without them he wouldn't even be where he was now.

Upon returning to Japan, Kagami wasn't necessarily what you would call 'team-oriented' and planned to overtake the Generation of Miracles by his own doing. It didn't take long for him to become humbled by the Miracles and his teammates, and he was grateful for it.

Besides his entire team being put in danger by Riko's cooking and the unexpected addition of a naked Alex, Kagami was feeling happy and confident before going into the remaining Winter Cup matches.

Since Alex was now currently staying with him, she insisted on teaching him in what little time they had before the match.

"You've always been the determined type, Taiga, but you seem more motivated now than ever." Alex walked up to Kagami who was sitting on a bench and handed him a bottle of water.

"Well, after that Touou match I feel kind of… rejuvenated? I'm not sure exactly, but now I know we're one step closer to winning the tournament." Kagami wiped the sweat from his brow and took a long swig from the bottle.

"After seeing one of those Miracles in action… Midorima, was it? My whole perception of basketball in Japan has changed. You're definitely up against some monsters, and on top of that you'll be facing Tatsuya." Alex sat next to Kagami.

"I was the same; I think I underestimated the Generation of Miracles at first. And Tatsuya…" Kagami drifted into thought. Himuro had said that their relationship as brothers would come to an end after their next match their tie was broke. Kagami didn't want that, he knew Himuro was competitive and that he always thought of himself as Kagami's older brother, but a basketball match shouldn't determine the outcome of their relationship.

The streetball tournament ended up in them having to delay their match until the Winter Cup. On top of planning to win the match against Yosen, Kagami had to prove to Himuro that their relationship as brothers didn't have to end.

"I plan on defeating him," Kagami said with confidence, standing up from the bench.

"Well then, we have a lot more practicing to do," Alex did likewise and gave Kagami a hard pat on the back.

* * *

For some reason, Kuroko had called Aomine out all of a sudden. The two of them hadn't spent time together since middle school, and now that Seirin had managed to defeat Touou, Aomine could only imagine what his former shadow could want.

When Kuroko came straight out and asked Aomine to teach him how to shoot, he couldn't help but think – why? But he had seen Kuroko's determination firsthand. If there was anything Kuroko could do for his teammates, he'd do it. That pure-hearted determination always irritated Aomine, but it was also something that he couldn't help but admire about Kuroko. There weren't many people he knew that showed as much passion as Kuroko… well, except maybe Kagami, although he was a bit different from Kuroko in that respect.

Kuroko's determination allowed Aomine to show his weak side to his friend, and after watching Kuroko royally suck at shooting baskets for a while, he couldn't help but confide in Kuroko about how he felt since the game.

"I haven't been able to sleep since then," Aomine slid down against the court wall and looked up at the night sky. Kuroko stood by quietly with the basketball in his hand. "Every time I close my eyes I see scenes from the match… It's that feeling I've forgotten for a long time. Although it was my worst night, I can't wait to play basketball again."

Kuroko widened his eyes in surprise, but soon his face softened into a slight smile, remembering the times that he and Aomine had always practiced together. Maybe there was hope for his friend, because he had finally been shown that there were still things for him to love about basketball.

* * *

The game against Nakamiya South went off without a hitch. They may have needed a little pick me up from Riko mid-game (if that's what you'd like to call a slap on the face), but Seirin secured their win with an 83 to 77 score. They also went on to defeat Kougomo North 87 to 82.

But that was only a warm-up, as their next opponent was Yosen, the match Kagami was waiting for. And as if the team needed any more reason to be intimidated, they had come to learn that Yosen had absolutely crushed their other opponents; all of their games ended up with the other team not scoring a single point.

If that wasn't enough to shock them into being completely serious about this match, Kagami didn't know what else could, but intimidation does not destroy one's determination. Although Yosen's incredibly strong defense was nothing to underestimate, all of Seirin were determined to give everything they had.

"Kise-kun's match is also today," Kuroko commented to Kagami as they made their walk inside the coliseum.

"Is that so…" Kagami replied, not having much interest in other team's games at the moment. Although he was pretty confident that Kaijou was going to be advancing after today.

"Yes, although I don't much about their opponent today, it will be right after our match so we should watch," Kuroko replied.

The previous day, Kuroko had excused himself early after a bit of one-on-one practice with Kagami. He wanted to show Kagami what he had learned from practicing with Aomine, but had to leave suddenly because of a call he'd gotten. Kagami heard Kuroko say Kise's name, so that's who he assumed Kuroko went to go meet. It was a bit strange considering that Kuroko seemed to be nothing but cruel to the model, so Kagami didn't think they had that close of a relationship.

"Yeah, that sounds good, we need to scope out our opponent for the next game anyway," Kagami glanced over at Kuroko.

Once they got to the locker room and the start of the game was fast approaching, Kagami reached at the necklace that he always wore and slid it off of him. Gripping tightly at the chain, he reminded himself of what the ring at the end of it symbolized before placing it in his bag.

* * *

"Why the hell are you dragging me out to this match?" Aomine grumbled at Momoi as they walked in through the doors, looking out onto the court with a heated game already being played.

"You owe me for ditching me!" She replied. Aomine tsked as his eyes drifted towards the scoreboard.

"Huh!? 18 to 0!?" Momoi said in surprise.

Of course, Seirin was playing against Murasakibara. He was basically a wall with two legs. But he wasn't only good with defense – he was fast and could score basket after basket. It really wasn't a surprise to see Seirin losing at the moment, although for a team with high such offense, it was a bit of a shock to they hadn't scored a single point.

It didn't take long for Aomine to witness what he had allowed himself to be dragged along for: Kuroko's phantom shot. It only made sense for Kuroko to combine elements from his vanishing drive to make up for his lack of shooting skill, so he and Kuroko had practiced this new technique. And it seemed to be working well, Seirin ended up getting their first points in and it all started to unfold after that.

Although Aomine's curiosity had been over how Kuroko would perform, he couldn't help but have his attention get wrapped up in Kagami from time to time, especially when the 2nd quarter had ended, Kuroko was benched.

There was also someone else who caught Aomine's attention almost immediately: Yosen's #12.

_'He's even getting the best of Kagami,'_ Aomine thought, narrowing his eyes slightly, watching the match closer than he had previously.

Even when Kagami was subbed out and back in, it seemed to only fuel Kagami's focus. But that's when Murasakibara started to actually play seriously. Seirin had been struggling with him before, but now he started to actually give his 100%. That's how he was, Aomine thought. Murasakibara wasn't particularly serious about basketball most of the time, but he hated to lose more than anything.

But despite everything, despite a broken basketball hoop, the extremely talented Himuro, and Muraskaibara managing to enter the zone in the very last seconds of the game – Seirin pulled off another narrow defeat 73 to 72.

Kagami had made another miracle, getting into the zone a second time. Aomine smiled slightly despite himself, because he could tell the very moment Kagami had entered the zone – of course, he had witnessed it firsthand himself. Aomine felt himself get excited watching Kagami face off against the beast that was his former teammate, Murasakibara. Kagami really was full of surprises. Kuroko even pulled off a shocking play himself, actually managing to block Murasakibara's shot and securing the victory for Seirin.

Aomine turned around with a 'hmph' as the arena still echoed with applause. Watching these games just made him all the more antsy to get back to playing basketball. But that wasn't the end, Momoi went on to tell him that Kise's match was next.

* * *

Seirin didn't have much time to celebrate as they wanted to get ready to watch the match between Kaijou and Fukuda, since the winner would be their opponent in the next game tomorrow.

But Kagami had other things to do, mainly attending to fix his relationship with Himuro. During the match, he felt that his weakness was his desire to hold on to their relationship as brothers, and even requested of Kuroko to throw away his necklace. But in Kuroko's infamously blunt way of putting things, he let Kagami know that that was a terrible idea, and that there has always existed the possibility of them being both brothers and rivals.

So Kagami made a sprint to find Himuro after the game. But what he didn't expect was to see Alex being manhandled by some guy that apparently went by the name of Haizaki. Luckily, Alex had always been one to be able to handle herself and Kagami was stopped by Himuro before he risked getting disqualified for harming another player. With the addition of Kise showing up, Kagami learned that this Haizaki was not only on Fukuda, but a former Teikou player as well.

That incident cut Kagami's discussion with Himuro short as the match was about to begin. Before returning to the court, Kise assured Kagami that he wouldn't lose against some like Haizaki.

* * *

"I believe in you, Kise-kun!"

At that moment, Kuroko was probably the most noticeable since Kagami had met him. He had to admit, he was getting pretty damn worked up over the game too with how dirty Haizaki's tricks were, but he never could've imagined Kuroko standing up and shouting at the top of his lungs.

Although the crowd didn't know where that shout came from, Kise seemed to know exactly where Kuroko was, and it seemed to be just the boost of confidence he needed within himself. Kaijou went on to defeat Fukuda with Kise's display of perfect copy using moves only the generation of Miracles could pull off.

The crowd cheered at their victory, Kise looked up towards the stands with smirk and a raised fist. Both Kagami and Kuroko were grateful that their next opponent was a worthy one.

"I can't believe you can actually shout like that," Kagami commented as they made their way to file out of the coliseum.

"Kise-kun seemed to be troubled; I could tell Haizaki was saying things to try and get under his skin. He just needed a snap back into reality. I know you wanted just as badly as I did for Kaijou to be our next opponent." Kuroko responded, shifting his bag on his shoulder.

"Yeah, that's true. Kise promised he would win, so if he hadn't I would've had to beat some sense into him," Kagami laughed. "Still, I never thought I'd hear you shout like that."

"I believed in him from the beginning. I didn't have the chance to tell him before the game, so my only opportunity was right then and there," Kuroko's gaze shifted away from Kagami.

Kagami laughed again, "You're a little strange sometimes," he joked.

"Kagami-kun, you're one to talk."

"What's that supposed to mean!?"

* * *

Aomine arrived home, massaging at his knuckles that not too long ago, plowed their way straight into Haizaki's face. He probably wouldn't have been so reckless if he was still in the running for the tournament, but it felt good to put the asshole in his place.

It pissed him off to see someone like Haizaki trying to break Kise's like that. Yeah, Kise was annoying at times, but he truly loved basketball, he even prioritized it over his precious modeling career. Having someone like Haizaki trying to destroy that for Kise was unacceptable. For people like Kuroko and Kise, even Aomine knew that the Winter Cup was important to them, and their battle had no room for someone like Haizaki to interfere with.

He let out a long sigh as he removed his shoes and shrugged his coat off of his shoulders. Making his way through the living room, he noticed his father sitting on the couch.

"I'm home," he mumbled.

His father glanced at him with sharp eyes. He was a damn intimidating man, and Aomine knew that's where he got some of his features from.

"Where were you?" He asked. His father always had a deep tone to it.

"I went to watch some matches at the Winter Cup with Satsuki," Aomine replied, stopping behind the couch.

His father gave a hmph. "I thought you were already out of that competition."

"I am, but I still want to see who's going to win," Aomine narrowed his eyes, he was glad that his dad couldn't see him at that moment.

"Since when did you start caring about basketball again?" His father replied.

Aomine paused for a moment, "I never stopped caring, it just became boring…" He turned and started walking towards his room.

"Is that how you feel about your schoolwork too? Quit slacking. If your mother gets another damn phone call from the school saying you've missed your class you aren't going to like what happens next."

Aomine tsked under his breath and slammed his bedroom door shut behind him.

His father hadn't always been like this. In fact, they had a pretty good relationship when he was younger; his father even did a lot to encourage his basketball.

But everything changed when the company his father worked for went bankrupt. He was forced to find another job, and now works a boring desk job for another company, having to start from the bottom again. Since then, his father had become a bit soulless, having to work longer hours for less pay. It started to affect his mother as well as his father rarely came home in a good mood. She seemed to become less happy, although she always plastered on a smile for her son.

On top of all of that, this all happened when Aomine had begun to realize his diminishing passion for basketball. That year was probably one of the lowest points in his life, and he had been trying to recover from it ever since.

He was grateful for his first glimmer of hope to occur. Maybe being defeated had humbled him, because since then he had actually spent some of his free time practicing again. It was a shame that the season was over for him, because he couldn't wait to play his next game again. For now, he supposed, he'd have to live vicariously through the four remaining teams in the Winter Cup.

* * *

**End of Chapter.**

This story will start to get more interesting next chapter, I think. I just want to establish the inner thoughts of Kagami and Aomine during canon events, as well as start to introduce elements of their personal life. Obviously, we don't know much about their home lives so this is where we start to see some deviation from the canon story. As the story progresses, it'll start running on full head-canon, heh.

I actually found myself writing this while having to scan through the manga, just to make sure I got the order of things right. It was actually kind of difficult! But it was nice to re-read over some parts. As you can see, the story is already surpassing what the anime has gotten to so yeah, again, if you don't read the manga, expect to be spoiled (although you probably already have been if you're reading this now).

Thanks for everyone who has showed interest so far! I really appreciate it. (: See you next time! :*


	3. Chapter 3

Kagami woke up the morning of the Kaijou match to a completely naked Alex sleeping beside him. After proceeding to yell at her to 'put her damn clothes on' for what seemed like the umpteenth time since he had known her, Kagami came to a grave realization – his shoes were broken. Done. Kaput. He picked up one of the shoes to see the sole of it hanging halfway off. How did he not catch something like this earlier?

In a panic, Kagami called up Riko, who of course yelled at him for being an 'idiot'. He really did think those shoes were going to last him a while, but he was practicing more than usual.

"Geeze, seriously, you two! You're the perfect match for something like this!" Riko grumbled over the line.

"What are you talking about?" Kagami questioned.

"Kuroko's shoes are broken too! I'm pretty sure he just went out to buy another pair, so why don't you go and meet up with him? Come to the stadium ASAP once you're done!" Riko left off with that and hung up.

Kagami huffed and scratched the back of his head, sending a text out to Kuroko to ask to meet up with him.

Kuroko and Kagami had visited several stores with no luck – Kagami couldn't find any decent shoes in his size. Their game wasn't until the afternoon, but still, this was going to be a problem.

"Why can't I find my size?" Kagami grumbled, glancing over to Kuroko who was holding his brand new shoes that they found in the first store they tried.

"It's because your feet are so unnecessarily big," Kuroko commented.

"What's unnecessary?" Kagami glared at his shorter friend.

Although they checked a couple more stores they still had no luck.

"Let me ask Momoi-san if she knows where to find any. She manages an entire basketball team, after all," Kuroko held up his phone and began to press a few buttons.

"Sure, whatever you think is best…" Kagami let out a sigh.

Kagami checked out one more store while they waited with no luck. It didn't take very long for them to both hear someone shouting Kuroko's name.

"Tetsu-kun!" Momoi ran up to Kuroko and tackled him, wrapping her arms around his thin frame.

"Sorry for calling you so suddenly," Kuroko patted lightly at her back as she gave him a near-death squeeze.

"It's fine! I was planning to go out today anyway so it was no problem at all!" Momoi smiled gleefully.

"Um, I'm glad you came to help us out, but why are you here too, Aomine?" Kagami's eye's narrowed at his rival who came walking up to where they were gathered.

"Shut up! That's my line, you bastard," Aomine returned the glare.

"Dai-chan has a ton of basketball shoes so he said he'd lend you a pair!" Momoi answered cheerfully.

"What the hell!? I never said that! Don't mess with me, Satsuki!" Aomine shouted, turning around to now direct his glare towards her.

"But you two wear the same size!" She added with a wink.

"How do you know that?" Aomine asked, baffled.

"Here!" Momoi ignored the question and handed a box out towards Kagami.

"Hey, don't take my Jordan's without my permission!" Aomine's shouting continued as Kagami took the box from Momoi.

"Dai-chan had a spare and these are the kind you like to use, right? Don't worry, Kagamin; I know all of this information because I've analyzed all of Seirin. I could probably tell you everyone's preferred shoe and size," Momoi smiled again.

_'Woah, these really are the kind I use. And I really like the color…'_ Kagami looked down at the black and red Jordan's that were just his size.

"… Geeze, it can't be helped," Aomine huffed, knowing that his protests were going unanswered. He had no idea how Momoi got ahold of his shoes without him knowing either.

He lifted his eyes to look at Kagami; his eyes nearly sparkled as if he was a kid in a candy store looking at those shoes. But he could see a sign of resistance in Kagami's eyes – probably because he got such a great pair of shoes that fell into his lap so easily.

"I'll give them to you if you can beat me at 1-on-1," Aomine said, holding up the basketball he brought along.

"Huh!? I have to be in a match pretty soon!" Kagami shouted.

"Just a three-basket match, it won't take long," Aomine shrugged his jacket off of him and began walking onto the court.

"I told you-"

"Just do it. While we're at it, I'll give you a small lecture," Aomine said, walking past Kagami.

Kagami was a bit taken aback, Aomine sounded pretty serious. So he decided to go along with Aomine's whims, although he wasn't sure what he and Aomine would have to talk about that's so important.

He followed Aomine out onto the court, taking off his jacket as well.

"I'm only gonna say it once, so listen up, idiot," Aomine turned to look at Kagami.

"What'd you call me!?" Kagami shouted, glaring at Aomine

"Who cares? Just shut up and listen," Aomine glowered back, gripping at the ball in his hands.

It may have been because he saw Kagami as worthy competition, but he still wasn't sure why he'd so easily tell him precious information that'd only improve Kagami's playing. In fact, maybe it was because he _wanted_ to see Kagami improve – he _wanted_ Kagami to get better for the next time they played against each other in an official game. Aomine knew he was already slightly anticipating their next match against each other.

"I'm gonna tell you a little bit about the zone," Aomine continued, and Kagami seemed to quiet down at the mention of it and his attention was on Aomine. "Everyone has a different trigger for entering the zone. If you're in your ideal set of mind and are 100% focused, you can enter the zone."

Kagami nodded with interest, encouraging Aomine to continue.

"Just knowing your trigger won't get you into the zone, but it helps. And for you, your trigger is…" Aomine paused for a moment, "The will to fight for your friends."

Kagami's brows raised a bit, "Really?"

Aomine scoffed, "Of course, when you entered the zone during our game, the only thing on your mind was winning for your team, right? It wasn't all about you in that moment – it was for everyone on your team as a whole."

Kagami remained silent and thought for a moment, "You could tell all of that just by watching me?"

"W-Well, it was pretty obvious," Aomine stumbled over his words a bit and ran a hand through his hair. He wasn't 'watching' Kagami; he was just… really hard to take his eyes off of… Especially during a game they were playing against each other in! "Whatever, just keep that in mind, alright? You're going up against Kise today, so you're going to need all the help you can get." Aomine walked past him, dropping the ball against the asphalt. "Now hurry up so we can get this 1-on-1 started so I can cream you."

"Shut up! Don't talk so high and mighty right off the bat!" Kagami went back into defensive mode and trudged after Aomine.

Needless to say, it didn't take long for their game to end.

"I'm done, so let's go, Satsuki," Aomine said casually, walking up to Momoi and Kuroko who were talking on a bench.

"Huh? Wasn't that too fast?" Momoi asked with a surprised look on her face.

"I told you it wouldn't take long," Aomine huffed.

"How was it?" Kuroko asked.

"I destroyed him," Aomine said bluntly.

"Wait! One more time! I want those shoes and more importantly, I can't stand losing to you!" Kagami shouted from behind him.

Aomine turned around and narrowed his eyes at Kagami, "Don't you have to be in a match soon? Don't be ridiculous." He reached over and grabbed the shoebox off of the bench. "Here," he tossed it over to Kagami.

"What…?" Kagami made a stunned expression

"Take it. I don't need it anyway."

"Like I'll take it after losing! Take it back!" Kagami shouted, shoving the box back towards Aomine.

"Just take it, dumbass!" Aomine scolded and sighed. "You're going to need some shoes if you want to play today. And I told you – you're playing against Kise, right? I'm going to murder you if you put on a sloppy match just because you don't have the right shoes." Aomine turned to walk away, "I'll let this match be on hold."

Kagami paused, Momoi slightly smiled.

"Fine… My bad, I'll take it," Kagami said much more quietly and calmly.

Momoi and Aomine made to leave the court, but not before Kagami shouted once more.

"But it's just on hold, okay? Don't you forget it!"

"Just go, dammit!" Aomine yelled, turning back around with an agitated huff.

Momoi giggled next to him.

"What's so damn funny?" He asked with a grumpy expression.

"You two really are similar, almost scarily so, right down to your shoe sizes," she commented and let out another giggled.

"Tch, don't compare me to him…" He mumbled under his breath. He hated to admit it, but there were some parts of Kagami that reminded him of himself. Just a few…

* * *

Kagami and Kuroko made it to the coliseum just in time. Riko and the rest of the team seemed to be relieved that their predicament was easily solved as they made their way out onto the court.

They walked out to see that the Rakuzan vs. Shutoku match was at halftime and the game was tied. While makin their way to their side of the court, Seirin passed Rakuzan who were making their way back out onto their court to continue with the next half of the game.

Akashi was intimidating despite Kagami's height overshadowing his, but he tried keeping his cool as the team approached closer. But maybe he was a little too ambitious with him.

"Yo, you better not have forgotten me. You pulled some crazy shit back then," Kagami glared down at Akashi, remembering the incident during the beginning of the tournament when Akashi nearly stabbed Kagami in the eye with a damn pair of scissors. "Kise, and you too… I'll crush all of you." Kagami continued his menacing glare.

Akashi looked unmoved, yet his eyes narrowed slightly. "Of course I remember you, Kagami Taiga," Akashi said in a calm voice. "I acknowledge your ability, but let me give you a warning." Akashi walked up closer to Kagami, setting a hand on his shoulder. "The only ones who are allowed to look me in the eye are the ones who serve me." His hand gripped tighter on his shoulder and Kagami didn't move. "No one that opposes me is allowed to look down on me."

In that moment, Kagami felt all of the strength leave his body. His knees gave away and he ended up on the floor, barely able to keep himself sitting up.

"Learn your place," Akashi said in an intimidating tone and walked past Kagami still on the floor.

He walked over to Kuroko and briefly said something to him before continuing onto the court.

It took Kagami a moment to get himself back up, with a little help from Kuroko. Akashi definitely was not one to be underestimated. He was frightening in many respects. Kagami tightened his fists into a ball. He couldn't believe that he allowed Akashi to overpower him so easily, but at the same time it almost felt as if there was nothing he could have done about it.

Cooling off from their little run-in, the Seirin team decided to stay and watch the remainder of the Rakuzan vs. Shuutoku match.

But it wasn't a surprise to see Rakuzan break the tie when the second half started, securing their spot in the finals. Although they were defeated, Shuutoku never gave up. But Midorima had showed a side to himself that Kagami was surprised by – he actually made an effort to work together with his teammates. Midorima, besides Aomine, was probably one of the Miracles that were least likely to depend on his team. Yet he put his full trust in them during this game, especially in Takao. They definitely weren't a weak team, and they seemed to be holding up well before the second half started, but they just couldn't hold out to the former Teikou captain.

* * *

Aomine gave a sigh and a grumble as he walked through the coffee shop with Momoi beside him.

"Why the hell did you make me come out with you today? Besides to give my shoes away to that idiot…" He furrowed his brows and glared at Momoi who seemed to be incredibly unaffected by the menacing glare she was getting.

"If I recall, you were the one that ditched me even after specifically saying you would go shopping with me – so you owe me this!" She said with a 'hmph', finding a table to sit at and looking over the menu.

"You gave me that excuse the other day! You can't use it twice!" Aomine grumbled.

"This isn't the first time you've promised something and haven't held up your end of the bargain, so does it even matter?" Momoi kept her gaze down at the menu.

Aomine tsked but didn't respond. It was true… He kind of did stand her up the other day… and many other days besides that. So there really wasn't anything he could say as a retort.

After they had ordered their food, they sat in relative silence until Aomine spoke up.

"Do you believe in fate?"

Momoi made a bewildered face and raised her hand up to Aomine's forehead. "What are you saying!?"

"Idiot, I don't have a fever!" Aomine replied, moving his head away from her reach. He sighed, "I know it's kind of out of my character to say something like this, but do you really think it was a coincidence that all of the Miracles, along with Tetsu, just so happened to come together at the same time? I mean, it's just strange – we were all on the same team together, now we're enemies gathered at the same competition. If something like fate exists, the fact that he appeared before us…" Aomine's voice became quieter towards the end until it dropped off.

Momoi gave him a thoughtful look and seemed to be seriously thinking about what he just said.

"He has all the qualification as one of the Generation of Miracles," Aomine continued after his pause. "He could have _been_ one of the Generation of Miracles, but he just wasn't able to be. And then he met with Tetsu… Like _he_ was the one that was the true light to his shadow." Aomine made a serious face and his gaze was kept downward onto his plate.

Momoi gave a light sigh, "Stupid. What is with that serious face of yours?"

Aomine looked up to see Momoi sitting with her arms crossed.

"Don't act like you and Tetsu-kun weren't a good match, because you were. It's just that… well… you may have gotten a little lost along the way…" Momoi averted her eyes for a moment. "But I think the reason that Kagamin is such a good match for Tetsu-kun as well is because of how similar you two are – and Tetsu-kun can see that. Kagami is a lot like how you used to be and that's how they work so great together."

"Used to be…?" Aomine mumbled.

"Yes, 'used to be'. You can't deny that Kagamin has that pure joy about basketball that you just don't seem to have anymore."

Aomine felt a bit of pain in his chest upon hearing that. He knew it, he knew that Momoi knew it, he knew that many people knew it – but being called out on it wasn't something he expected.

"But," Momoi spoke up again, "I can see that there's still a part of you who hasn't given up yet. Especially after losing," She smiled softly and took a sip of her tea.

"And about fate – I believe in it. I believe all of the Miracles were brought together by fate. I believe that Kagamin and Tetsu-kun were fated to be on Seirin together," she paused and looked directly at Aomine, "And I believe that you and Kagamin were fated to meet as well."

Aomine was a bit taken aback by that, but smiled despite himself – Momoi definitely wasn't one to throw a word like 'fate' around so easily, so she must've been serious.

Momoi smiled in return and stood up from her seat, "Alright, let's go." She grabbed at Aomine's arm, attempting to pull him up.

"Where else are we going?" Aomine stood up with a look of confusion.

"Just come on!" Momoi said, continuing to pull him along with a smile on her face.

* * *

"Stop shoving, Satsuki!" Aomine growled as Momoi, with surprising strength, pushed him from behind into the coliseum. "I thought we weren't coming here today!"

"I changed my mind! Hurry before the game ends, I decided I have to see the end of this match with my own eyes!" Momoi continued pushing despite Aomine deciding that he was in too deep to leave by now.

"I said that hurts!" Aomine grumbled, coming to a halt once they reached an area that overlooked the court.

Aomine grunted and looked out onto the court to see a player substitution in progress – Kuroko and Kise were walking out onto the court and there was four minutes left of the last quarter and Seirin was ahead.

"It looks like we made it just in time, this is the climax," Aomine said in a serious tone.

Almost immediately into the match, Aomine saw it – Kise's perfect copy. It wasn't just any player he had copied – he had copied Aomine and Akashi at the same time. Aomine looked on in shock as he watched Kise pass Kagami with ease, dunking the ball into the net. He followed by blocking Kagami's shot with Murasakibara's block, and even copying Kuroko's pass.

_'So he can finally copy us too, huh?'_ Aomine thought to himself. This was going to be a more intense game than he though. He found himself eager to see if Seirin could have a chance against the Kise right before them – Kagami and Kuroko in particular.

In the last four seconds of the game, it was as if time had literally slowed to a snail's pace. Kagami had control of the ball, it looked like he might make it, but Kise was right there with him. He went for a meteor jam – a move he had only done once while in the zone, but Kagami wasn't in the zone at that moment. He wasn't going to make, Aomine knew it. He tensed up as he looked on, Kise jumping up for a block. At the last moment, Kagami slammed the ball against the board of the basketball hoop, Kuroko right behind him, catching the rebound. In the last second, Kuroko performed his phantom shot and defeated Kaijou with a buzzer beater.

They had done it – Seirin had gone on to the finals against Rakuzan, and Aomine's adrenaline was rushing just from watching the game that had unfolded in front of him. With a deep breath and the loud cheering of the crowd in his ears, he turned around.

"Let's go, Satsuki," he said, already walking away from the court.

"Hey, wait up!" Momoi chased after him.

He placed a hand over his mouth as he ignored his friend's shouts for him to wait so she could catch up. His mind was racing with thoughts that had been occupying his mind all week.

_'Damn, maybe Seirin really can beat Akashi,'_ he thought, and slightly smirked behind his hand.

* * *

**End of Chapter.**

Thanks for being patient with this chapter! I had a lot going on the past week. I'm actually really looking forward to getting past the canon stuff because its actually much harder to write when I have to continuously keep having to check the manga to make sure I got things right. But can you believe a lot of this dialogue is actual canon dialogue? Yeah! If I ever question as to why I started shipping these two its definitely some of the little moments they have, especially the shoes part. It's one of my favorites. ;~; One part I couldn't manage to fit in was during the Kaijou vs. Seirin match where Kagami comments on how nice the shoes he got from Aomine are. A really small moment, but its a moment that got mirrored on the effing cover of the 21st volume of the manga! I'm going to have to deviate from canon starting next chapter since the manga, as I write this, is in the middle of the Rakuzan vs. Seirin game. So I'll have to make up an ending. But then I can finally get into the meat of their relationship.

I'm ranting. As usual. Thanks so much for reading and the interest people have shown in this story so far!


	4. Chapter 4

_Two weeks later._

The basketball bounced on the court, creating a slight echo with each hit against the asphalt. Kagami heaved a huge sigh as he slowly made his way to retrieve the ball so he could shoot it through the hoop the same way he had for the past hour or so.

Winter Cup was over, and with it ending also came the end of the basketball season. Practices still happened, but less frequently. Now that it was winter break there was nothing for Kagami to do except to go out to the court by himself a couple hours a day to pass the time. It was only a few days until the new year and Kuroko was out of town with his parents to spend the holiday with the rest of his family outside of Tokyo. The rest of the team was doing much the same, and even Alex had returned to America, so he really didn't have anyone else to hang out with. His mother was flying in on the 31st to come visit him for a few days, his father was too busy with work so he wasn't able to make it.

The boredom and monotony of the winter break were a vast contrast to what had happened two weeks ago with the conclusion of the Winter Cup. Even into the 4th quarter, it really didn't look too well for Seirin when it came to winning. It wasn't just Akashi that they had to deal with, but it seemed like every single member of Rakuzan was on a level that no other team in the competition were on.

But Seirin had pulled off miracles before and they knew they could do it again. The game truly brought out the potential in everyone, and Kagami knew that winning the game was no longer just for him anymore. It was for the captain, Hyuuga, who without him, the team wouldn't be what it was. It was for Teppei, who wouldn't be able to play another high school basketball game ever again after the season ended. It was for the rest of his sempai who always believed in him. It was for his fellow first-years who gave all of their support. It was for Riko, who honestly couldn't be a better coach (well, maybe she could stop sneaking vitamins and supplements into their food). And most of all, it was for Kuroko, who if he hadn't been there for Kagami, none of this would have been possible. Kagami would've never imagined that someone like Kuroko was who he needed to bring out the very best in himself, and he really felt that it was true that his light shown brighter when Kuroko was his shadow.

It almost seemed surreal that they pulled off a victory against the seemingly unstoppable Rakuzan. For Kagami, it was like a blur and at the same time so crystal clear. It was hard to explain but it boggled his mind.

Kagami picked up the basketball up off the asphalt and spun it in his hands a few times. The high from that time still hadn't faded, but the days had gotten dull. Kagami just wanted to be done with the break so he could go back playing with his team again.

Dribbling the ball against the court, he slowly made his way back to half court. He didn't make much of an attempt to aim and shot the ball carelessly, the ball hitting the rim of the basket and bouncing off the side.

"Dammit…" he hissed under his breath, rubbing at his neck and taking a step to retrieve the ball.

"What the hell kind of shot was that?" Kagami turned his head towards the voice that sounded off the court.

"Aomine…" Kagami said with a surprised expression.

"I'm surprised a guy who throws like that could beat someone like Akashi. I guess anything really can happen," he scoffed and crossed his arms.

"Sh-shut up, I'm just distracted," Kagami retorted, furrowing his brow. "Why are you here anyway?"

"What, I can't come to this court or something?" Aomine responded.

Kagami grumbled and tossed the ball in his hands, "Sorry, I'm just in a bad mood I guess…" He said quietly.

Aomine hmphed and walked towards the other side of the fence and onto the court, "You come here often?" He asked.

"Um… Excuse me?" Kagami raised a brow and eyed Aomine.

"Shit, you know what a mean! I meant, do you always come to this court?" Aomine's ears burned slightly at the borderline pick-up-like line that he hadn't meant to say the way it ended up sounding.

"Yeah… I come here almost every day," Kagami rested the ball against his hip and turned around to face Aomine.

"Seriously? I come here all the time at this time and no one's ever here," Aomine responded.

Kagami gave a confused look at Aomine. He always came at this time too but had never run into Aomine before. He dug into his pocket for his phone and quickly checked it.

"Ah…" His mouth hung slightly open, "I've been here this long?" And then Kagami realized how dark it had gotten. He figured he must've been so lost in his thoughts that he had completely lost track of the time and it was now an hour later than he usually stayed.

"You really are an idiot if you can't even keep track of the time," Aomine let out a short laugh.

Kagami shot him a glare. "Whatever. I'm leaving now." Kagami stormed off towards the court entrance in a huff. He really didn't feel like dealing with Aomine's smarmy remarks at the moment and he had overstayed his time at the court anyway.

"Jeeze, calm down! I was just messing with you. Don't take everything so seriously," Aomine called after him.

Kagami ignored him and was off of the court and out of sight within seconds. Aomine tsked, running a hand through his hair. He wondered why Kagami was in such a bad mood, a few insults here and their never got him to run off in a huff before. Whatever, it was none of his business.

* * *

Kagami knew that he overreacted with Aomine the previous day, but he didn't really want to stick around to have Aomine poke fun at him when he was in a sour mood.

But then again, Aomine really had helped him out a bit after their match together. He gave him information about the zone and even gave him a new pair of shoes when he really needed them (even though Momoi probably had mostly to do with that). Maybe he wasn't that bad of a guy… Well, just maybe. Aomine really was a smartass, Kagami thought, and he had no room in calling him an 'idiot' when he had heard of Aomine's infamously poor grades from Kuroko. But the jerk did help him out in a time of need…

So that's why Kagami was going to the court later than usual. As he thought, someone else was on the court and it was none other than Aomine. Kagami slowly made his way closer to the court, watching Aomine effortlessly shoot the ball through the net without even trying.

Kagami cleared his throat a bit, catching Aomine's attention who turned his head to the side to see who had approached him.

"Oh, you," he said, bending over to pick up the ball that had rolled to his feet.

Kagami grunted and held up a box towards Aomine.

"Uh, what is this?" Aomine questioned, his eyes moving from the box to Kagami's face.

"Your shoes. You can have them back," Kagami said quietly.

Aomine stared at the box and furrowed his brow, giving an irritated huff. "I told you that you could keep those. Besides, its not like I want them back after you've used them."

"But I never beat you at one-on-one so there's no way I can keep them," Kagami insisted, pushing the box closer to Aomine.

"Don't be an idiot, I'm not going to take back something I already said you could have," Aomine pushed the box away from him.

"But its not like I bought them off of you or something. I don't want to be in debt to you so I'd rather give them back," Kagami persisted.

Aomine gave an annoyed sigh, _'Isn't the fact that I let you just use them in the first place already put you in my debt, you idiot?'_ He thought to himself.

Aomine pondered a bit, scratching at his temple. "Didn't you say you wanted a rematch for them?" Aomine asked, holding the basketball up with one hand. "How about we have it right now?"

Kagami paused for a moment in thought. "Alright, then." He went to go set the shoes down before Aomine stopped him.

"You aren't going to play against me in those ratty shoes," his eyes pointed towards the shoes Kagami was currently wearing that seemed to have been put through hell and back. "If you're going to play against me put those Jordan's on." He turned his back and stood at the center of the court, waiting for Kagami to switch his shoes out.

Kagami made his way out onto the court to stand across from Aomine, readying himself for what was about to happen.

"First 'til five points?" Aomine asked, dribbling the ball a few times.

"Sounds good to me," Kagami responded, staring down Aomine with a serious expression.

Aomine smirked and slammed the ball one last time against the asphalt, "Don't get too confident, the game starts now."

And before Kagami knew it, Aomine was out of his sight and already making his way to the end of the court. Kagami turned quickly on his feet and darted after Aomine, catching up with him in no time, but not fast enough as Aomine effortlessly swerved out of Kagami's block and scored a basket with his formless shot.

"Dammit, that was cheap!" Kagami growled as Aomine ran to retrieve the ball.

"No it wasn't, you're just too slow," Aomine wore a smarmy grin.

Kagami grit his teeth and the furrow in his brow deepened.

"We'll see about that," he said under his breath.

But it ended up being a little too one-sided, because after about twenty minutes Aomine had made five basket while Kagami had none.

"Shit, another rematch! Lets go again!" Kagami huffed and wiped the sweat off of his brow.

"Tsk, how did you beat all of us with that sort of playing," Aomine spun the ball on his finger without sparing a glance towards Kagami's direction.

"I can beat you!" Kagami went to grab for the ball but Aomine swiftly moved it out of his reach.

"I'm done playing for today. Besides, I don't think you want to embarrass yourself any further," he gave a condescending laugh and began to walk away from Kagami.

"What do you mean you're done for today!?" Kagami yelled after him. "I still need to beat you for these shoes!"

"Jeeze, Kagami, drop the shoes thing!" Aomine said, picking up his sports bag up and throwing it over his shoulder. "Those shoes don't matter that much to me."

"But it matters to me!" Kagami was now standing next to Aomine with a serious expression on his face. "I don't like being in debt to people."

Aomine let out a long sigh and rubbed at his temple. _'This guy is annoyingly persistent,'_ he thought to himself.

"Fine, how about this: Come to this court whenever you feel like it, you know when I'm here. I'll let you challenge me to a rematch once a day until you win, alright?"

Aomine made the suggestion just to get Kagami to lay off of him a bit, but honestly this idea didn't sound so bad. He had been wanting another rematch with Kagami since his loss at Winter Cup. And although he would prefer playing an official game, having a one-on-one game with him was the next best thing. He wouldn't mind doing this more often, but it wasn't like he was going to tell Kagami that.

"Fine, but next time I'm going to win," Kagami said with serious confidence. So confident that it was slightly amusing to Aomine who had to hold back a small chuckle.

"Alright then, it's a deal," Aomine turned his back, holding up his hand with a single wave as he walked off and away from the court.

Kagami lingered on the court for a moment, trying to fathom why Aomine seemed to still be so much better than him. Sure Seirin had barely beaten Touou, but they did it. Actually, they had barely beaten all of the Generation of Miracles, each of their wins only being a point difference. Not only that, it was the combined efforts of Kagami and his teammates. He had gone head-to-head with all of them, but he may have not had a chance if it weren't for the rest of his team.

Kagami tightened his hands into fists. People, had believed him to be on the same level as the Generation of Miracles - but was he really? He quickly shook his head of the thought. It didn't matter if he was better or worse, it just mattered that he did his best and his best helped Seirin win the Winter Cup. He had already defeated them all - so why was he still so hung up on trivial things? With enough effort he would be able to beat Aomine at one-on-one, he knew he could.

He turned and picked up the ball that he had brought to the court and set down earlier. He might as well a get a bit more practice in before the next match while he was there.

* * *

Kagami almost forgot the fact that his mother was coming in the next day, so it looked like he had to put the rematch on hold.

Picking up his mother from the airport, she gave him a kind smile and a tight hug.

"It's so good to see you again, Taiga!" She said happily.

Kagami had always had a pretty good relationship with his mother. Since his father was rarely at home, she was the one he spent the most time with. He got his hair color from her, as she had bright red hair that went past her shoulders and was always styled in loose curls. He didn't want to brag, but he always thought his mother was very pretty and she always looked younger than her age. People would often complement her good looks and he was kind of proud of it.

She chatted away excitedly on their way back to his apartment in the taxi. She told him all about how his father was moving up the ladder in the company and how much her English had improved since hiring a private tutor.

"Its nice to be back in Japan where everyone is speaking a language I understand much better. You know your father, he always insists to talk in English, even at home, just so he can work on his communication skills. Anything for the business," she shook her head jokingly and Kagami laughed. It was nice to have his mother back in Japan as a change of pace. He'd be lying if he said he didn't miss his parents at least a little bit sometimes.

They arrived at the apartment not much later, Kagami insisting he carry his mother's luggage up the stairs.

"Oh, its much cleaner than I expected!" His mother said as her eyes swept the room after opening the door.

"Did you really think this place would be trashed?" Kagami set the bags down at the doorway to take off his shoes.

"Well, your room was never the cleanest thing in the world, even back in America," his mom replied, walking towards the kitchen. "I bet your kitchen gets a lot of use," she turned to face her son and smiled.

"Yeah, I still like making my own meals. As a matter of fact, I have a dinner planned for today since its New Year's Eve," Kagami said.

"Ah, I can't wait! I can't believe my son cooks better than I can. If you were my daughter I'd probably have to be worried about you seducing men through their stomachs," she giggled.

"Quit it, mom," Kagami laughed and rubbed the back of his head. "Ah, I'll show you where your room will be."

Kagami grabbed his mother's luggage and carried it into the spare bedroom.

"Are you sure you don't want to use my room? It was originally supposed to be you and dad's room after all," Kagami asked. The apartment was pretty large for just himself as it was originally intended for all three of them to live in until his father's job came to where it was more beneficial for his parents to remain in America.

"Oh honey, it's fine! I told you I don't really mind, as long as I get to see you," she patted Kagami on the shoulder.

Kagami smiled. It really was nice to have some company during the lonely holidays. As the day went on, Kagami told his mom all about his year with basketball, all the friends he made on the team and his Winter Cup experience. The conversation went on into dinner and into the night to keep themselves awake for midnight.

"I'm so glad you're having a good time back in Japan, Taiga. You sound like you've made such good friends" she said with a yawn. She must've been tired after getting off of her flight, but she insisted in staying awake until the new year. "You know, I was worried about you coming back to Japan by yourself."

"Really?" Kagami questioned.

"Of course! I had my sixteen year old son moving far away from me to live on his own for the first time! I had no idea if you'd be alright. Not only that, I didn't know what kind of things you'd get yourself into. Just the thought of my teenage son having a place all to himself in the prime of his youth had me worried in more ways than one." She set a hand to her cheek and shook her head.

Kagami blushed slightly at what his mother was implying. "You know I wouldn't be doing any kind of bad stuff." He mumbled.

"Hmm, how would I know? You _are_ at that age where girls are starting to get your attention," she said with a worried face.

"M-Mom!" Kagami's face was red now. "It's weird hearing you say stuff like that…"

"Oh, Taiga, I was a teenager once too, you know! I know how teenage boys work!" She shook her finger in her son's direction.

"Please don't tell me about those kinds of things," Kagami rubbed a hand down his face. "I promise I'm not bringing girls home, okay? I'm barely here anyway besides to eat and sleep!"

His mother crossed her arms, "I believe you, Taiga, but as a mother I'll always worry about my son." She paused to look in his direction, "That doesn't mean I'm not proud of you, though," she said with a smile. "I'll have to wish for you success when we visit the shrine in the morning," she continued. "I'm sure that you'll continue to do your best. I've never seen you passionate about anything as much as basketball. Don't worry about your father trying to get you to do the same work he does, you should do what you love." She patted Kagami's hand gently, giving it a quick squeeze.

"Thanks, mom," Kagami gave a meek smile.

* * *

Aomine arrived home after spending a couple hours at the court like he had begun to almost daily since the end of Winter Cup.

_'Kagami didn't show up again,'_ he thought to himself.

It wasn't like he was waiting for Kagami to be there, but he expected to see him there the next day demanding for a rematch. It had already been a week and there was no sign of him at all.

"Welcome home, Daiki," his mother said in a quite voice as she walked to the entrance to greet him.  
"Hey," he kicked off his shoes and took off his jacket.

"You seem to be going out a lot more lately," she commented.

"Guess so," he shrugged. He noticed his father sitting on the couch, keeping to himself.

"Well, dinner is almost ready if you're hungry," she smiled slightly and walked back into the kitchen.

He wasn't feeling very hungry at the moment and decided to hold off on dinner for the moment. He walked past his father, without a word spoken between each other and opened the door to his room. He reached for his cellphone and noticed he had a new text message. It was from Kuroko:

"Momoi-san told me you were starting to practice again. I'm glad."

"Why does she have to go telling other people my business," Aomine grumbled under his breath. He typed out a short reply:

"I just want to make sure I beat you next time."

He pressed send. It didn't take more than a few minutes for a reply:

"I look forward to it then."

Aomine smirked slightly. He couldn't help but feel the same way, but decided to leave the conversation at that. It was still a bit exciting to feel that basketball was starting to be fun again. Aomine sat in thought over the events of the past month for a few moments, and wondered if this was the start of his life changing for the better.

His appetite returning to him, he sat up off of his bed and walked out of his room and into the kitchen.

"So, what's for dinner?"

* * *

**End of Chapter.**

This chapter took a while to come out and apologize v_v I've been very busy and unfortunately I think this will persist until the end of my semester as its reaching the end and this is crunch time. Not only that, but a couple weeks ago my computer broke so I've had to write this chapter on a really old, tiny netbook. D: But thank you for being patient and I hope everyone can continue to be patient with me! I also hope this chapter isn't rushed sounding.

Anyway, I pretty much decided to go with the 'Seirin wins Winter Cup' route despite the canon not having reached that point yet. I think the series may go that way, but I secretly wish that Seirin would actually lose so the series would have a reason to continue ehe. Either way, I think Seirin winning will work well for this story.

So I hope you enjoyed this chapter despite the wait, thank you for all the support and the kind words! ^^ See you next chapter!


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